Sponsoring a child with Manna 4 Lempira means getting the chance to send a backpack filled with school supplies and gifts every year to encourage your sponsor child's God-given potential through education and the simple joys of childhood. I hope this overview of the backpacks I packed for my sponsored children this year will help you as you pack! This year, I packed for 11 girls: ten tweens/teens and one toddler. Click on the photos to enlarge.
For starters, here is the required list of items every backpack should have. Your monthly sponsorship fees cover these items, so you don't have to send them. Some sponsors like to pick out their own supplies for their sponsored children, but anything you don't send will be provided to them by the ministry. The required school supplies are: 8 notebooks, 20 pencils, a pencil sharpener, 2 boxes of 24 crayons (younger children) or 2 boxes of 12 colored pencils (older children), 2 large erasers, pens (2 red/2 blue/6 black), a ruler, scissors, and glue or glue sticks.
I also picked up some extra school supplies based on things my sponsored children told me their schools required in the past. These items are: a scientific calculator, a grid notebook for math, a sketch pad, a pencil bag, a miniature dry erase board with markers, blank flash cards, and a folder. For a few of my older girls whose schools offer drawing classes as an elective, I also including sketch sets with special drawing tools. I also highly recommend sending a Spanish (not Spanish-English) dictionary at least once. I already sent them last year, so will not be including them this time. I recommend this one. For the most part, I shopped based on cost and quality. However, I also made sure each child had a couple of fun designed notebooks and/or pencils in addition to the plain ones, to help get them excited about school.
My littlest girl, Floridalma, will have a few less supplies than the others since she is only 4 and doesn't need things like a scientific calculator.
My littlest girl, Floridalma, will have a few less supplies than the others since she is only 4 and doesn't need things like a scientific calculator.
All supplies for 1 child
Just the extra items for 1 child
Sketch sets for the older girls
Some of the fun pencils to split between the girls
In addition to school supplies, every backpack needs to include 4 toothbrushes, 2 tubes of toothpaste, a bar of soap, a wash cloth, 3 pairs of socks, and a comb or hairbrush. I also chose to add dental floss and hand sanitizer.
The ministry also makes sure every backpack has a few fun items. They recommend dolls with hair accessories for girls, and soccer balls with matchbox cars and baseball caps for boys; but you can choose to substitute these items. I've already sent dolls and soccer balls to my girls multiple times. So, as they are getting older, I chose to switch it up a little.
The special gift I wanted to send my older girls this year was a pretty faux leather diary with a lock. One of them specifically asked for a diary, and I thought it was a great idea for everyone. I also found these lock-and-key bracelets to match! They're each getting a glittery pen too, but I couldn't get a good photo because my camera kept reflecting the glitter. You can find them in bulk here, or individually at Dollar Tree.
After diaries, my favorite gifts for the older girls this year are the craft supplies. I chose this bead kit for ages 14+ and these fashion design coloring books with extra colored pencils for ages 11-15.
As their bigger gift, each girl is getting one of these scented stuffed bears! The older girls are each getting one of the purple bears, which are lavender-scented. The pink bear is for little Floridalma.
Next, I added as many smaller toys, accessories, and books as I could fit. These items include pink toy cars, LOL Surprise toys, balls, Uno games, BFF necklaces, hair scrunchies, Christian books, and preschool workbooks/coloring books for Floridalma.
Last, I made sure each girl had some clothing in her bag. They seemed so excited about receiving clothing last year, and it's a necessity as well as a fun gift. Plus, it's the one gift we may get to see photos of them using throughout the year. Each girl is getting at least 2 outfits, but I only took photos of my favorites- mostly the toddler clothing, because it's so fun to shop for.
Toddler dresses
Matching dresses for sisters Yessenia and Floridalma
Floral dress for Saudy (12)
I also included handwritten cards in their bags, wishing them a great school year and talking about why I chose certain gifts with them in mind.
